Thursday, August 30, 2007

I Got A Job!!

No clever title there, just the basic facts :) After nearly 4 months of searching and all of your helpful and very much appreciated crossed fingers (and toes ;), I finally landed a job! And it's perfect...exactly what I was looking for.

It's a job with the state as a "school based mental health counselor." I'll be placed at a school in New Orleans that's mostly for kids who have been kicked out of other schools, so there will probably be lots of behavior disorders...but I love a challenge ;) The program is set up to help rehabilitate kids who have behavior disorders, depression, ADHD, and anxiety disorders. I'll be working with adolescents, which is the exact age group that I wanted, and will be doing individual, some group, and family counseling when I can get the parents involved. I'm so excited about this.

Since it's a job with the state, the salary is decent...not great, but decent...the benefits are incredible, and there's job security. The program has guaranteed funding for a good amount of time. There's lots of supervision worked into the job, so it's perfect for me as a first job out of school. Now I just have to play the waiting game as I get all the paperwork lined up for my licensure and all the paperwork that I have to go through for the state. My guess is that it will probably be anywhere from 2 weeks to a month before I'm actually working, but the job is there, and that's all that matters!

The hours are 7:30-4 Monday through Friday, so I'm going to have to do some serious readjusting to my sleep schedule (as I blog at 1 AM). Blogs will probably be a little less frequent, but rest assured that I will most definitely still be blogging and reading away ;)

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Huge congratulations Chris! I'm really pleased for you. :) Hooray!

Fence said...

Congrats Chris. And it is great that it exactly what you wanted, hope you'll enjoy.

Stormfilled said...

Woohoo! Yay! Congratulations! Sounds excellent, perfect for you despite the early start.

Ana S. said...

yay! Congratulations, Chris!

CdnReader said...

Wonderful news, Chris. The program (and those kids!) are SO lucky to have you. :)

DesLily said...

woohoo!! I have to try crossing my toes for something good for ME now! lol.

Congrats Chris!!!!

but I don't envy changing your sleeping habits.. that's not always easy to do. ..but I know you'll do it!! I am happy happy happy for you!
will you still be going back to school?? you mentioned some time ago going back in the winter??

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!!!

And on behalf of those kids, thank you so much for being willing to take on such a challenge. Not many people are.

I think I can speak on their behalf at least a little, seeing as I've got some of those disorders myself. ;)

Anonymous said...

thats brilliant!!! congratulations.

i used to teach kids with adhd and dyslexia and it can be very rewarding working with them.

Kailana said...

Congrats! Maybe your job karma will rub off on me because I need a good job!

jenclair said...

I'm so glad that this worked out for you! Remember to take care of yourself, Chris. This kind of work can take an emotional toll (especially in New Orleans post Katrina), so keep in mind that you will need that recuperative sleep!

Stormfilled said...

Good point! I will always remember the advice that I was given when I started teaching -

You can't help all of them, and you can't fix any of them, just try to give them the tools to fix themselves.

Court said...

Congrats Chris! That's totally awesome. :)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Chris! Sounds like it will be a rewarding challenge for you :)

Becky said...

Congrats, Chris! So happy you got it!

Anonymous said...

CONGRATS!! :)
Stephanie
thewrittenword.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

yayyy bub!!! congrats! im glad you got something you really wanted..u def deserve it after all your hard work.

Debi said...

Oh my gosh, Chris...that is such fantastic news!!! I actually let a small "whoop" when I read your title there. Congratulations!

darkorpheus said...

Hey, great news. Welcome to the world of the salaried worker. Hee.

Jeff S. said...

Congrats! I'm happy for you Chris!

chrisa511 said...

Wow! Thanks for the congrats everyone :D

Stormfilled, The early start will be especially difficult in the beginning, but I suspect that I'll adjust in a week or two. Excellent advice by the way, and exactly what I hope to do...give them some tools so that they can "fix" themselves.

Deslily, I'd say it's about time I crossed MY toes for YOU ;) I still do plan to go back to school, but it may not be this winter...I'll probably push it back some. This will help my chances of getting in though, as experience weighs heavily on their application!

Heather, No problem ;) It's what I enjoy doing and I don't think I'd be happy doing anything else...unless someone would pay me to read of course!

JP, That's awesome! How long did you teach for? I remember you mentioning that on your blog. I'ved workded with kids with ADHD and other developmental disorders before, but never in a counseling setting. Looking forward to it!

Kailana, I sure hope so! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Jenclair, I'll be sure to take care of myself. I learned to real quick after my last internship at an inpatient psych hospital for adolescents. I brought all of it home with me the first couple of weeks, but eventually learned to leave work at work...that's rough to do sometimes :(

Debi, Haha! I got a Whoop! That's awesome ;)

Dark Orpheus, The word "salary" is wonderful..it's one I've never known ;)

Carl V. Anderson said...

Eventhough I said so in an email I wanted to say Congrats over here as well. I am so happy for you and excited for you. I look forward to watching you grow in your career. And you better not be slacking off over here! ;) Best of luck with that new sleep schedule!

Bookfool said...

Hot damn! I'm so happy for you!! Congratulations!!!

chrisa511 said...

Thanks again Carl! Rest assured that I won't be slacking on the blog..if anything, I'll probably more vocal to destress!

Thanks for the Hot Damn Bookfool! Said like a true southerner ;)

Anonymous said...

it was for 2 years. teaching wasn't great overall, but i really enjoyed working with the kids.

CJ said...

Hooray!!

Congrats on the job. It sounds like it's perfect for you.

cjh

tanabata said...

Congratulations!!

Bookfool said...

Uh-oh. I said something Southern? LOL

Bellezza said...

Hooray!

I so wish I could talk to you in person, as you deal with the very issues that seem to surround my son and his peers. You know he was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and all summer we tried Concerta which helped not at all. Then the doctor gave him Strattera which had a Caution: May Cause Suicidal Thoughts warning. Because that's something I want to give my son.

Anyway, all this to say, your job is HUGELY important because not only are you needed, you have a compassionate and wise heart with which to help those who truly need it. I'm so happy for you, and almost happier for the people you'll touch.

chrisa511 said...

Well thanks Bellezza :) I'm glad I got this job. Medication can help for some kids, but I really think that counseling is the bigger part of fixing the problem...I don't necessarily mean freudian psychoanalysis tell me your dreams counseling, but just examining the way things are done and how they can be done better. Or examining self defeating behaviors and how to change them...or looking at ways to adjust our lives to set up a better outcome. There's much more than just medication involved in treating something like ADHD in my opinion, and it's certainly not something that's untreatable or unbeatable. I really hope that y'all can find some good help for your son. He can do it! He sounds like a really cool kid from the little bit I know about him, he's a reader! That automatically makes him cool ;) He'll beat it...I know it!

Bellezza said...

Well, not to turn your post into something called All About My Son, but we are happy with a few things: no medication, supportive teachers, tutoring, and a job at a darling grocery store not two blocks from our home. They love him there, and he's making a great success of being responsible with joy in his heart. Afterall, he is a reader, and who can go wrong with that? Thanks for your responses, and comments, about him. I really appreciate it.

Jill said...

I'm chiming in kind of late here, Chris, but I did want to add my congratulations, too! I've been hearing a lot of stories on NPR during the past couple of weeks about the particular need for mental health workers in New Orleans, and I am so glad you are among them. I know you will do a great job!

chrisa511 said...

Thanks Darla! Glad to hear that we're getting some national coverage :) There really is such a huge demand down here...and there are plenty of counselors. The problem is, there's nowhere for us counselor's to work or for people in need of services to go. It took me 4 months to find a job in the city most in need of counseling right now. That's just sad.